


Empty World

by Fenrath_Shalador



Category: Starbound (Video Game)
Genre: expect more of this, purely self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 03:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12855744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenrath_Shalador/pseuds/Fenrath_Shalador
Summary: A lone glitch explores the remnants of a once great civilization. They have lived here for as long as they could remember, and they couldn't imagine being anywhere else.





	Empty World

Razer awoke to the gentle tapping of a bird poking their face. The bird fluttered away as they sat up, letting loose a low mechanical whine in an approximation of a yawn. They looked around to make sure that they were still where they had gone to rest last night. Yep, an old, overgrown, hole riddled house.

Razer was a machine built for, something. They couldn’t remember who built them or why. The only thing they had to go on was a vague sense of wanderlust deep in their programing. They didn’t mind though, it was wonderful to explore this ancient world and find everything there was to find here.

They got up and and put on their robe, a simple piece of brown cloth reminiscent of ancient monks. They then strapped on their pack and machete. They hadn’t found anything directly harmful, but it always paid to be careful. Who had told them that, or was that just one of the many things they just knew?

A tweeting above them drew their attention. The bird was standing on the edge of one of the roof holes. “Just a second, little friend,” Razer whispered up to them. They adjusted the straps on their back and waist, making sure that everything was secure. They then crouched down, and leaped straight up.

The bird flew away again as Razer landed on the stone roof. This time they only flew to the edge of the roof. Razer crouched down and inspected the bird, their eyes automatically zooming in and identifying the little creature in front of them. They were small, round and had beautiful blue and green feathers. They had a yellow underbelly and a short, sharp beak. The bird hopped a little closer. Razer held out their hand for them. After a few minutes, the bird hopped onto their hand and chirped up at them.

Razer giggled a little as they carefully brought the bird up to their shoulder, which they dutifully hopped on to. The birds feathers seemed to go well with their black and blue carapace plates. Although, Razer admitted to themself that they knew nothing of how colors worked.

They took a good long look at the bird. “What should I name you,” they whispered, “how about, Tayra, does that sound good?” The bird gave a few little tweets, seemed they liked it.

Razer giggled again and jumped off the roof. Tayra fluttered down after them, chirping annoyedly. “I’ll warn you next time,” Razer whispered as Tayra settled down on their shoulder.

Razer began to jog along the broken asphalt. They were in what was once a suburb, but now all the buildings were ancient, weathered and overgrown. Ahead stood the shattered pillars of once grand skyscrapers, an ancient monument to a civilization long gone. And even farther ahead, on the horizon, stood a massive mountain range. That was Razer's destination.

As they ran, they paid careful attention to the buildings on either side. While most were mere empty shells, a few could still hold a memory of the past within.

They soon came across one such building. It was hard to tell what it had once been from the outside. Everything tended to look the same when covered in plants. Razer slowed and turned into the open doorway. Tayra chirped and flew off their shoulder, joining several other birds in the branches of a massive tree in center of the building. Razer committed the scene to their memory, joining over a thousand other pictures they had taken.

They looked along the decayed shelves that littered the rest of the building, this place had once been a store. They began to slowly walk along the shelves, searching them for something still intact. They eventually found a mostly intact figurine. Though the paint was faded and one of the arms was missing, it was still quite obviously a knight of some form.

They carefully took off their pack and opened it, revealing dozens of other little memories that they had collected. They gently placed the knight near the center, where they would be safe from harm. “Your vigil is over little knight,” they whispered, “now I will protect you during your long earned rest.”

Razer looked up at the tree as they put their pack back on. Dozens of birds in dozens of colors flitted about from branch to branch, singing their songs to each other in a natural harmony.

They felt a soft warmth inside them as they stepped outside. It was good that Tayra had others to be with. Razer didn’t mind being alone, they had lived so for years now. They could last many more.

A loud twittering and the sudden appearance of a colorful ball of fluff on Razer’s shoulder drew their attention. Tayra chirped at them. Razer chuckled and rubbed the little bird’s head with a finger, “Do you really enjoy my company over theirs? Well, I won’t complain either way.”

The two of them made their way through the town. Razer taking their time to enjoy the sights and Tayra occasionally flying off to greet other birds.

Eventually, the small houses and shops turned into towering monoliths and giant pillars. Ancient monoliths to a time long past. Somehow the vegetation seemed to grow more vibrant deeper into the city. Not more dense, but somehow more unique. As if the city had taken samples from all across the world.

Razer laughed as they began to run along the broken streets, Tayra soaring just above them. They didn’t choose any specific direction, just whatever caught their interest.

They took pictures of whatever they found to be most interesting. A house covered entirely in ivy, a parking lot that had turned into a small forest, the underside of a highway covered in giant mushrooms, and so much more.

Razer made their way to one of the few fully intact skyscrapers. Plants shifted in and out of the windows, as if trying to reach the sky so far above. Tayra began to make their way up from the outside, while Razer checked out the inside.

The first few floors had been taken up by several trees. Their branches poked out of the windows to give the leaves sunlight. The trunks continued upwards through the floors, forming an odd sort of natural staircase.

Razer began to scramble up the tightly packed branches. One good thing about their mechanical body was that they didn’t really get tired. They just needed to recharge every few days. They still didn’t understand how that worked.

Ivy, vines, moss, flowers, ferns, and all kinds of fungus grew wherever they could get purchase on the upper floors. Bugs and birds of all shapes and sizes ruled this land far above the ground. Razer took their time to observe all of it.

Vines formed a natural floor where the old one had fallen away, and many large, colorful and very talkative birds made their nests in it. They stopped on another floor to watch a caterpillar slow eat a large leaf. They had climb up the outside of one floor that was filled with spiderwebs. They had be extra quiet to not disturb the floor filled with dozens of sleeping bats. They loved every second as they climbed through the skyscraper.

They reached the top just as the sun was beginning to set. The roof was covered in a myriad of flowers, forming a beautiful carpet on top of the world. Razer sat down at the edge of the roof as the sun slowly sank towards the ground.

Tayra landed next to their feet and tweeted up at them. Razer chuckled, “I’m okay, don’t worry,” they whispered as they rubbed Tayra’s head with a finger.

As the stars began to slowly appear in the sky, Razer began to think about just what was out there. They knew of things like other civilizations, strange people and stranger worlds. They knew what cars and houses and shops were, they knew about ships that could take you across the galaxy in mere hours. They knew what other races lived out there and what they stood for, but they had never experienced any of it.

They looked down at Tayra, who was searching in the flowers. “You know Tayra, many people would consider this world empty, dead,” they whispered, “but they would be wrong.” They looked out over the city, to the mountains in the distance. “This world is brimming with life, even in just this city alone.” They laid down to stare at the night sky, “And while I may want to leave eventually, it won’t be anytime soon.” Tyra chirped next to their head, “Of course I wouldn’t leave you, little friend,” Razer whispered as they closed their eyes for the night.


End file.
